A collaborator in ballet and contemporary dance forms, in addition to vocal and chamber music, Christian Matjias is one of the field’s leading dance/music specialists. A native of Los Angeles, he studied piano under Bernardo Segall and earned degrees in harpsichord and early music performance, studying with James Tyler and Malcolm Hamilton at the University of Southern California. Christian was on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Academy from 1991-1998, where he taught music theory and was a collaborative pianist in both their music and dance programs.

 He has presented at conferences in England, Ireland, Taiwan, and North America. His work has been the subject of articles in Dancing Times (UK), Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher, and DanceSpirit. In the area of dance/music reconstruction, Christian was lead editor in the reconstruction of North Star (Lar Lubovitch/Philip Glass) and is lead investigator/editor for The George Balanchine Critical Editions for the George Balanchine Trust and Balanchine Foundation. He has collaborated with dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Boston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, LINES Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Jose Greco Dance Company, José Limón Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, David Parsons Dance Company, TUDance, and others. He was a program co-coordinator for the symposium Mariinsky to Manhattan: George Balanchine and the Transformation of American Dance, co-sponsored by the University of Michigan, University Musical Society, and CREES (The Center for Russian and East European Studies).

 Commissioned works for dance include Existence Without Form (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre); What Was, We Choose, and Silent Echo (Gail Gilbert); Visiting Hours and Peniel (Leopold Dance Group). Others of his scores have been staged on LINES Ballet II and Moving People Dance Theatre, as well as the Ailey/Fordham Program, Interlochen Arts Academy, and UNLV. Commercial recordings include Standing Alone; Suites for Dance, Works for Cello and Piano; Etoile—Solo Ballet Variations; Music for Modern Dance; Other Dances, Other Dancers; and Na Razie, bez Ciebie.

 Christian has performed and directed music in stagings of Soaring (Doris Humphrey), Brahms Waltzes (Charles Weidman), Primitive Mysteries (Martha Graham), Concerto Barocco, Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, Stars and Stripes, and Serenade (George Balanchine), North Star (Lar Lubovitch), Impact (Laura Dean), and The Cradle Will Rock (Marc Blitzstein).

“.... Christian is an excellent musician.  Am sure George would approve.” —Maria Tallchief

Artist Websites

www.christianm.org

www.cdbaby.com/all/magicxtian63

Artist Websites

www.christianm.org